Apple Is Pulling In 40% Of All Mobile Industry Revenue, And 75% Of All Mobile ProfitsApple’s dominance of the mobile industry is just breath taking. This chart from Horace Dediu shows that Apple now has 75% of the mobile industry’s profits, and 40% of its revenue. Remember, this is a business line that did not exist for Apple 5 years ago.
It is really remarkable that this Industry which didn’t even exist 5 years ago is so large now.
It seems censoring of SMS messages are a trending topic as not only did Pakistan recently declare that their mobile phone telecommunications company will be clocking out words from text messages sent on the server end
At the end of November however, following public outcry and world-wide ridicule, The Pakistan’s telecom companies said that they will now postpone the plans to block 1,695 offensive words and phrases in SMS messages.
News outlets all over the world have reported on Pakistan’s plans to declare 1,695 words or phrases as ‘obscene’ and block their use in SMS messages; with the actual blocking to be done at every telecommunications company in the country.
It appears that the list of words was secretly distributed by Pakistan’s telecommunications authority to all telcos in the country on November 14th with a seven day deadline for implementation.
Additionally , there is now also a new Jailbreak cycia tweak has been launched which allows the blocking of sending SMS messages which contain certain words, but this tweak is directly on the phone, and prevents the user from sending the text before it goes out on the wire
SMS Censor also has an option which will pop up a prompt before each new SMS is sent, asking the writer whether they want to send it or not. This could definitely come in useful if you’re the kind of person who likes to fire off SMS messages after a few drinks of an evening. Are you really sure you want to tell your boss what you really think of them? No, probably not!
While we like the idea of SMS Censor tweak, and the option to require conformation before sending an SMS is welcome, we’re not really sure how useful the censoring part of the tweak would work. The settings for the tweak require no password to access, meaning that it can be turned on and off should anyone really want to. For an tweak that could come in useful for kids, it is all too easily bypassed.
We would also like to see it block incoming messages, or perhaps alter the message before it is shown to the recipient.
That said, SMS Censor does what its developer says it does, and if you’re looking for an app to censor outgoing messages, then this may just be it.
You will obviously need to have a jailbroken device to get it to work. For jailbreaking iOS 5 tethered using Redsn0w, you can follow our complete step by step guide posted here, or here if you want to use Sn0wbreeze on Windows. Since jailbreak on iOS 5 is currently limited to tethered boot only,
I think the client side censoring or warning that your message can be offensive is more useful than companies modifying your communication on the fly, just imagine what else they could end up doing with your message
Apps like these could potentially make it into the Apple Built in OS as a child safe setting, which could warn users to use better language… or possibly can be time activated, so that you don’t send horrible messages to work colleagues or your boss after a certain time at night
People who are addicted or dependent on editing Microsoft Office Documents will be happy to hear that according to a report from The Daily that Microsoft will be releasing an iOS app for Office Documents sometime in 2012.
With the iPad making up over 80 percent of the tablet market and millions of people worldwide using Office, that could mean big bucks for the tech giant based in Redmond, Wash.
From a Business perspective it makes sense for Microsoft to launch an iOS app, since the complete infrastructure is already created for them, and some users initially when they get their iPad or iPhone might buy it, somewhat out of conditioning over the years that a computer isn’t a computer unless it edits Word Documents
Since the first iPhone release, some Microsoft Office Documents have been viewable but not editable on the device itself if received in an email (well, the documents that most people view: Word,Excel and Powerpoint) , and quickly after the launch a couple of companies developed apps that allowed the editing of Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents.
For many people, the lack of a specific Microsoft Office application has enabled them to think “out of the box” and start using services such as Google Docs for online collaboration, together with Apps such as Quick Office Pro for iPad which can open up files on Dropbox or Google Docs or Box.net which recently gave iPad users 50Gb of online storage for free.
Some have decided to leave the tedious editing of large Office Documents for the Work or home Office computer and rather remotely connect to it using LogmeIn Ignition to get access to the full power of their Apple OSX Desktop or Windows PC. (This by the way is a great resource if you need to download something large, while you are out an about)
Devin Coldewey from Techcrunch wrote:The iPad hasn’t been much of a revenue stream for Microsoft, which has been focusing on developing its own competing tablet ecosystem. But as a software company, it can’t ignore the scores of millions of Apple devices out there for long. Sure, it has a few things in the App Store, but one of its biggest earners, Office, is entirely absent. The Daily reports that this is likely to change shortly, as Microsoft is planning to debut an iPad version of their productivity suite next year.
It would be a stripped-down version more in line with their mobile apps than the desktop ones. Users can, after all, easily view and make simple edits on a tablet machine, but heavy duty spreadsheet or slide work will still necessitate a desktop OS.
The price would likely be similar to that of Apple’s productivity apps: around $10, or at any rate in that vicinity. Price parity would be the ideal, but Microsoft may feel (perhaps rightly so) that its offering is worth more to enterprise users who have adopted the iPad informally as an email and calendar platform.
On the other hand, Microsoft doesn’t need the money so much as the platform presence, so a higher price seems unlikely. Preventing the leakage of users to Apple platforms is crucial in maintaining Microsoft’s dominance in the office apps arena.
Many have also commented that the timing for releasing an Official Microsoft Office App for iPad seems a little awkward since Microsoft will be putting its own native and “complete tablet solution” alongside Windows 8.
Pricing is still unknown,but lets hope it is a lot less than their desktop equivalent pricing.
If you are a fan of using your iPhone for Photography you will love this power tip for iPhone Photography: Use your earphones Volume up button as a Cable release
What this means is that you are now able to position your iPhone on a tripod using one of the iPhone Tripod connectors like the Gliff, and by pressing the volume up button on your iPhone earphone cable signal the camera to take the picture.
If you’re a photographer, then you know that a cable release is a tool to take a picture without touching your camera. Now, the iPhone can do this, too.
iOS 5 introduced many new features for photographers. Among these is the ability to use the Volume up button to take photos. As a result, the Volume up button on your headphones also works to take photos! It seems perfectly obvious that it should after the fact, but it’s not something most of us are likely to try.
This means, every iPhone includes a free cable realease. This is huge for an iPhone photographer because the current shutter buttons aren’t very good for keeping your phone steady. Interestingly, I’ve found that it’s often much easier to get burst shots when using my headphones compared to just the volume up key.
Perhaps the best part is that this can be paired with Bluetooth devices! I’m not sure if every headset with volume controls will work (as the buttons need to map correctly to the iPhone), but if a Bluetooth headset can increase the iPhone’s volume it should work.
What I have been able to confirm so far is that a Bluetooth keyboard is perfectly capable of acting as a remote. In addition, Joseph Linaschke over at ApertureExpert.com has said that his Bluetooth headset works as well, but I’m not sure which model.
Using a wireless remote opens up even more possibilites, especially when considering that the remote will start and stop video capture, or take self portraits which don’t have your arm in the photo.
Hope someone else will make use of this for their iPhone photos.
When iOS5 was launched we already knew this, but for some reason I didn’t quite get the gravity of the update. Especially if you pair it with Bluetooth devices to press the volume up. Great iPhone Photography Tip!
iPhone 5 Assemblers is finding it challenging to create the new iPhone 5 it has been reported. As with all of Apple’s technology the design is done in California with very advanced engineering techniques to create products which are in a league of their own
Unlike other plastic phone’s which seem to be easy and cheap to manufacture, assemblers of the iPhone 5 is finding it a bit difficult. (which means it will be a great and SOLID piece of hardware when it comes out.
Apple is putting in orders with key suppliers for a new iPhone, which will ship in the third quarter, Lorraine Luk at the Wall Street Journal reports.
Luk says the new iPhone will be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4, and it will have an 8 megapixel camera, as opposed to the 5 megapixel camera on the iPhone 4.
One of the supply sources tells Luk Apple wants to ship 25 million new iPhones by year’s end. The supplier also says Apple wants orders for parts to go to its manufacturing partner Hon Hai starting in August.
The source warned there may be a delay in Apple’s plans because the new iPhone is “complicated and difficult to assemble.”
Apple has had some trouble keeping up with demand for the iPad 2, and Hon Hai boss Terry Gou admitted that making iPads is hard.
So from the sounds of it no-one is confirming whether the iPhone 5 will be tapered (like the shape of the MacBook Air) to easily slide into your trouser pockets, but it will definitely be lighter and Thinner.
If your contract is coming to and end after your iPhone 4 purchase it’s good times all around. Just a few more weeks to wait for the iPhone 5.
One of the beautiful things about Apple is that they do not release information about their products until very close to the release date, which keeps everyone, including the press intrigued and excited. In such an environment there are always rumours abound, and some people are becoming specialists in predicting these trends and stating their rumors.
This morning a Deutche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore released a note predicting that Apple will launch a less powerful and probably cheaper phone in September at the same time as the iPhone 5, to target the Mid-range market as well as developing countries.
Apple will be releasing two new iPhones this September, says Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore in a note this morning.
It will release the iPhone 5, and the iPhone 4S, a “mid-range” prepaid smartphone priced at $350. The data plans would work similarly to the iPad. Users could sign up and pay for what they need when they need it.
“With Nokia and RIMM struggling, the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market,” says Whitmore.
If Whitmore’s report is accurate it would confirm a lot of rumors we’ve heard this year around the iPhone.
Since February reports have mentioned a cheaper iPhone to expand Apple’s market and fend off the rapid growth of Android. We’ve also read conflicting reports about whether or not Apple is releasing a redesigned phone for iPhone 5 or just a mild internal upgrade producing a faster version of the iPhone 4.
and
Unlike the fake iPhone’s that I’ve seen in Thailand I will expect the iPhone 4GS to be even more powerful than the iPhone 4 but at a reasonable price. I’m sure a lot of people around the world can’t wait.
Some new research has found that the average smart phone users uses around 400Mb of data per month, although a large amount of users use less than 200Mb per month.
Unfortunately the results don’t differentiate between phone’s used as I have an incling to believe that iPhone users use much more data because of the ease of using the web and the whole experience of surfing online with your phone.
From experience here’s a couple of activities which are data intensive:
You Probably Don’t Need A Big Mobile Data PlanHere’s an interesting look at how much data people are actually using with their smartphones from a Validas analysis of 23,000 cell phone bills.
While the average data user eats up 400 megabytes per month, around 60% of users are actually using less than 200 megabytes per month. Interestingly, the median user is around 100 megabytes per month.
So what does that all mean? Well, it suggests that the majority of people are using less than 200 megabytes per month, which is about the cheapest data plan offered by carriers. It also means that some hogs are eating up a lot of data while most people are just using a little bit
From the data you can see that most of us are well within our data usage limits, but if you are a user that is on the highest data plan, you might want to check your usage with your Mobile phone Carrier and reconsider which data plan you’re on.
A new hardware device which acts as a add-on to your iPhone has surfaced in FCC filings which gives iPhone users the ability to watch live broadcast digital television (like Freeview) on the iPhone without the need to use your Data connection.
It’s called the Cydle i30, and wraps around the bottom of your iPhone and wraps around the back (similar to some battery packs).
Up to now, watching live event of the iPhone has been restricted to a few live feeds on YouTube Live because broadcast networks have a lock on live events for the most part.
The TV on iPhone device has an adjustable antenna to help you get a strong signal, which then sends the video to your iPhone over Wi-Fi. Additionally, The Cydle i30 has its own integrated battery so it won’t drain the power of your iPhone.
The Attachment is great for live sporting events and breaking news, and although you won’t have this strapped to your phone permanently, it’ll definitely come in handy. .
Obviously this will only be digital TV channels that are available for free over the air, but it will be a great addition to your bag of iPhone Goodies and won’t eat up your data connection (since it doesn’t us it).
Whether it has or will have access to the TV-out feature on the iPhone still remains to be seen, but id love to get my hands on one to test once it comes available.
PhoneDisk 1.683
Mount your iPhone or iPod Touch as a real Mac OS X disk.
7 Reviews
PhoneDisk allows you to mount your iPhone or iPod Touch as a real Mac OS X disk.If you like iPhone Explorer, you’ll love phone disk. This software seamlessly mounts your iPhone or iPod Touch as a real disk on your Mac OSX filesystem.
The iPhone is the most advanced mobile phone available and and there are a couple of companies now producing great desktop software additions that make good companions to your iPhone.
iPhoneDisk is one of thos utility programs that is very useful as it allows you to get full read access to the iPhone or iPad’s files as if it is a hard0drive on your mac. (Sorry PC users, you will have to wait for the next post where I’ll share some Pc software for your iPhone
Turn Your iPhone into a Super 8 Video Camera
There are already a ton o’ vintage camera apps for your iPhone but this Super 8 app (which ties in to the J.J. Abrams movie of the same name) is as full featured and fun and free as they come.
Not only does it let you shoot video (with front facing and back facing), you can change effects and filters by swiping across the camera case in mock fashion (it’s more fun than it sounds) and play the video by pulling down a projector screen (complete with old school styled buttons). Come on, we all know it’s silly fun to add flickering and scratching film to make your 2011 shot video seem vintage. Best part: Free (for now it says).
If you don’t know how films shot with Super 8 looked in the past, here’s a good example:
iPhone Tutorial Videos
